Relationships between biodiversity and the stability of marine ecosystems: comparisons at a European scale using meta-analysis.

Cusson, M, Crowe, TP, Araujo, R, Arenas, F, Aspden, R, Bulleri, F, Davoult, D, Dyson, K, Fraschetti, S, Herkul, K, Hubas, C, Jenkins, S, Kotta, J, Kraufvelin, P, Migne, A, Molis, M, Mulholland, O, Noel, L, Paterson, DM, Saunders, J, Somerfield, PJ, Sousa-Pinto, I, Spilmont, N, Terlizzi, A and Benedetti-Cecchi, L 2015 Relationships between biodiversity and the stability of marine ecosystems: comparisons at a European scale using meta-analysis.. Journal of Sea Research, 98. 5-14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seares.2014.08.004

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Abstract/Summary

The relationship between biodiversity and stability of marine benthic assemblages was investigated using existing data sets (n = 28) covering various spatial (m-km) and temporal (1973-2006) scales in different benthic habitats (emergent rock, rock pools and sedimentary habitats) through meta-analyses. Assemblage stability was estimated by measuring temporal variances of species richness, total abundance (density or % cover) and community species composition and abundance structure (using multivariate analyses). Positive relationships between temporal variability in species number and richness were generally observed at both quadrat (<1 m2) and site (100 m2) scales, while no relationships were observed by multivariate analyses. Positive relationships were also observed at the scale of site between temporal variability in species number and variability in community structure with evenness estimates. This implies that the relationship between species richness or evenness and species richness variability is slightly positive and depends on the scale of observation, suggesting that biodiversity per se is important for the stability of ecosystems. Changes within community assemblages in terms of structure are, however, generally independent of biodiversity, suggesting no effect of diversity, but the potential impact of individual species, and/or environmental factors. Except for sedimentary and rock pool habitats, no relationship was observed between temporal variation of the aggregated variable of total abundances and diversity at either scale. Overall our results emphasise that relationships depend on scale of measurements, type of habitats and the marine systems (North Atlantic and Mediterranean) considered.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Subjects:	Conservation Data and Information Ecology and Environment Marine Sciences
Divisions:	Plymouth Marine Laboratory > Science Areas > Marine Ecology and Biodiversity
Depositing User:	Dr Paul J Somerfield
Date made live:	08 Apr 2016 09:35
Last Modified:	25 Apr 2020 09:57
URI:	https://plymsea.ac.uk/id/eprint/7000

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